


the fairytales we tell ourselves

by Randomprojects



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Implied/Referenced Abuse, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 09:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24348898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randomprojects/pseuds/Randomprojects
Summary: Five people Anthy never fell in love with, and the one she did.
Relationships: Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena
Comments: 7
Kudos: 65





	the fairytales we tell ourselves

_i. Saionji_  
He longed for something that could never exist, and when he realizes the futility of his desires he slaps her as though the cruelties of the world would vanish if she was punished for his ignorance. As though his blows could compare with the symphony of agony she lives with every second of every day, in all these years.

As though he matters in the long run.

Sometimes Anthy wants to let him reach Revolution, just to see the look on his face.

(What is eternity, but endless pain?)

_ii. Miki_  
He comes courting for a princess, but he doesn’t realize that there are none to be found.

All gardens fall to ruin eventually, no matter how bright the long-faded sun once shone. Sooner or later everyone is a witch; sooner or later, all princes die.

(He thinks he is different from the others, crouched behind the gilded aegis of his golden childhood memories.  
He’s not.)

_iii. Juri_  
Arisugawa had always pretended that she was above it all. She stubbornly clings to the thought that, if she denied her heart’s desire, she would be free at last. Hers is a contradictory existence: she hates miracles, but yearns for one anyway.

(The only miracles that happen are the ones built on sacrifices.)

_iv. Nanami_  
She knows that one day Nanami will look up, see the Swords of Hatred poised over her head, and realize there is no escape. There never was.

It is in Nanami that she sees her past and her future: the fate of all girls who become witches, for their beloved brothers’ sake.

(Touga, however, was never a prince.)

_v. Touga_  
While the others see something more in her, Touga treats her as the doll that she is; for all his schemes he is honest in this, and he does not pretend to feel, any more than she could.

(Empty vessels aren’t capable of love.)

**+1**  
_i. Utena_  
Tenjou Utena reminded her of Dios; in all the ages past she had come the closest to the princely ideal, but Anthy had expected her defeat, and Anthy had expected the shattering of her heart’s sword. In the end Utena is only a girl.

She had not expected Utena to crawl back up, while the swords pierced her body anew. She had not expected the ferocity in Utena’s voice as the girl-prince proclaimed her a friend, even after everything. She had not expected the bleeding fingers scrabbling on the lid of the heavy coffin. She had not expected Utena would see her as she truly was, hidden away for an eternity and more—and yet she had. In the end Utena did not give up on her.

So she mustn’t give up on Utena, either.


End file.
